News

Round up of the buzz Argentinian titles out to tempt buyers.

4x4

Dir. Mariano Cohn

Thriller 4x4 was the talk of Ventana Sur in Buenos Aires last December and has already landed distribution deals in France (Ugc), South Korea (Cree Pictures) and Argentina, where Buena Vista International will release. Cohn, Gaston Duprat’s co-director on The Distinguished Citizen, makes his solo feature directorial debut on the story about a car thief trapped inside a luxury SUV. Peter Lanzani, Dady Brieva and Luis Brandoni star.

Contact: Juan Torres, Latido Films

After Hitler’s Steps

Dir. Tbd

Keen to move deeper into...

Buenos Aires — Ugc Distribution has beaten out all other suitors to clinch what had became by Friday morning the most anticipated deal of this year’s Ventana Sur market: All rights to France on Argentine Mariano Cohn’s “4 x 4,” sold by Latido Films and distributed throughout Argentina by Disney.

After mounting speculation about which distributor would finally win out on France, the deal was closed by Ugc’s Thierry Decourcelle and Latido Films Juan Torres.

The sale vindicates Latido and the producers’ decision to bring “4 x 4” onto the market at a private screening at Ventana Sur, attended this year by more than 100 French executives.

Stoking the drama of Thursday’s screening, it took place in torrential rain, but top-class screening conditions.

One of the biggest new titles at Ventana Sur, sitting in the mid-ground between arthouse and mainstream – it’s a thriller but makes caustic social comment about the vindictiveness...

Latido Films’ selling spree continues at San Sebastian, where the Spanish sales agent has closed with Beijing-based distributor Lemon Tree Chinese rights to two Argentine high profile titles, Mariano Cohn’s thriller “4X4” and Carlos Sorin’s drama “Joel.”

Both titles head a raft of new deals clinched by Latido in San Sebastian, and come a week after reporting 23 higher-profile deals across seven titles struck from Cannes through Toronto.

Teaming Gaston Duprat and Cohn’s Buenos Aires-based Television Abierta with Spain’s Mediapro, and toplining Peter Lanzani (“The Clan”), “4 x 4” kicks-off with a luxury 4 x 4 stationed in a Buenos Aires district. A petty car thief enters the vehicle. But when he tries to get out, can’t. The doors, windows won’t open. He’s trapped.

The thriller marks Cohn’s follow-up to “The Distinguished Citizen” which won Oscar Martínez a Volpi Cup best actor award at 2016’s Venice Festival,...

Argentine Film Festival | UK Film Festival | Artist Film Weekender | Noël Coward Film Festival

Explore Patagonia at this year’s festival, with a focus in honour of the 150th anniversary of Welsh settlement. Super Furry Gruff Rhys investigates the connection in Separado!, while Argentine director Carlos Sorín presents his best-known movies, Bombóm: El Perro and Intimate Stories, which double as tours of Patagonia’s photogenic landscape. Road To La Paz journeys from Buenos Aires to Bolivia, and for cultural tourists, there are docs on artist Nicola Costantino and rock group Banda de Turistas.

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As a film fan, self-professed cinenerd, and an ex-film programmer at the New York International Latino Film Festival, the closure of the long-running fest last year was soul crushing. There are very few spaces dedicated to exhibiting Latino cinema and a lot of the remaining ones are on shaky ground.

Simultaneously though — as many U.S. Latino film institutions are on their last legs — movies directed by Latin American-born filmmakers are circling the globe at prestigious film festivals, winning awards, and garnering praise from critics. Production numbers, south of our border, have risen astronomically. It’s a renewal, renaissance, new wave — whatever you want to call it — that began in the mid-nineties. The Film Society of Lincoln Center, with its eye on this rebirth, founded a film series in 1997. A yearly showcase of the newest voices in Latin American cinema, it would eventually be called Latinbeat.

This year’s Latinbeat, running July 11 – 20, carries on with its mission of presenting emerging directors and film trends from across Latin America with movies from powerhouses like Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Brazil plus countries with smaller film industries like Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic. From films about a Mexican garage band ("We Are Mari Pepa") to heavy metal in the Andes ("Holiday") and from first-time directors as well as established ones, this year’s lineup is centered on young protagonists.

In advance of the series’ opening night, I got the chance to chat with Marcela Goglio — Latinbeat’s film programmer since 1999 — about the origins of the longstanding showcase, how she ended up at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and the constant rebirth of Latin American cinema. Plus, there are some good stories about the struggles of getting filmmakers to their screenings on time. Spoiler alert: if something can go wrong, it will.

When did the Latinbeat series start? Was there something specific that motivated the creation of the series?

Latinbeat started in 1997, conceived by Richard Peña, the Programming Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center at the time (and until the end of 2012.) He actually programmed that first edition. I came in as an intern that year and helped with the marketing, outreach, and with Q&As. He came up with the idea mainly because at the time there was a very evident explosion or renaissance of film in Latin America, mainly Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico (the so called “New Argentine Cinema” started in the mid 90s). By explosion I mean not only a spike in quantity but mainly there was some really interesting formal exploration going on and new kinds of films emerging as a reaction to drastically changing socio-political realities — end of dictatorships in some countries, devastating economic crises that changed the social landscape in others — in a film landscape that, up until then, had become rather stale. It was the perfect time and there was a real need, as no other venues existed that were showcasing that cinema in New York. Latinbeat was the very first to showcase these new emerging filmmakers that later became such symbols of their time.

Where did the name Latinbeat come from?

Richard Peña chose the name. I think it was a reference to precisely an urgent, watershed moment, urgent films, something palpitating in the air that the festival wanted to capture. Also, it was a reference to a new rhythm or language that was being created.

How did you end up programming the series?

Newly arrived in New York City in 1997, after having lived in Costa Rica for four years where I worked as a journalist and programmed a series of Latin American cinema at the Spanish Cultural Center, I heard that Richard Peña, whom I had studied under at Columbia University before moving to Costa Rica, was organizing a Latin American film festival. (At the time it was called “Latin American Cinema Now.”) I called him up and volunteered to help on that festival that he programmed. So I became an intern at the Film Society helping with Latin American outreach and other stuff. In 1998, he asked me and a fellow colleague, Cord Dueppe, to program the following edition in 1999 (it was biannual back then) and we programmed the subsequent editions together. Ines Aslan, from the Public Relations department, joined our team around 2003 under Richard’s guidance. In 2007, I became the sole programmer (Ines and Cord left the Film Society) and have programmed it since.

Richard Peña, former Programming Director at the Film Society of Lincoln Center

Can you describe the process of discovering and selecting the films each year? How is the process different now than when you first started?

I take submissions — and I watch everything that is sent to me — but I don’t do an open call for entries. Up until recently, I had traveled to the Havana Film Festival almost every year since 1996 and to every Bafici (Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival) since its first edition 12 years ago and I go to a few other festivals. Distribution companies send me titles and screeners but mostly the process involves keeping up to date with productions in the region through connections with film schools, institutes, filmmakers, and producers with whom I have developed a relationship with over the years. Also, of course, I follow the programming at all the other festivals.

The process now is different in that there are many more films to watch because, amongst other things, of an explosion in production in other countries in the region (and more production too in the aforementioned strongest countries: Argentina, Mexico, Brazil). The programming, necessarily, must become more complex because there is more to choose from and more variety but also more festivals that compete for the same films. There are more films to watch but because of technology it is also easier, in a sense, since viewing links get sent quickly instead of having to wait for screeners or videos via mail.

What was the biggest challenge in the first year of the series?

Getting a crossover audience, in terms of nationality.

Marcela Goglio with Yamandu Ross, co-director of '3 Million'

What years do you feel were the heyday of the series? What are some of your favorite memories of that time?

Definitely 2003 – 2004, when the festival was hugely successful — we had sold out screenings back to back — and longer, it ran for three weeks. We had a lot of Cuban cinema and my very favorite sidebar (in 2003) was these fabulous archival Cuban music documentaries (from the 50s, 60s, 70s) that we brought back from Havana and were never again shown in the city, or the U.S. The theater was packed and now, looking back, I realize we should have repeated that program. It was also the first year that I started to notice some crossover amongst audiences — Mexicans coming to see Chilean films, Argentines to see Cuban, etc — and that was thrilling.

One of my favorite memories is recognizing a Mexican bus boy from a neighborhood restaurant who came to see Carlos Sorin’s "Intimate Stories" (a small independent film from Argentina). He was standing in the back — there were no empty seats in the theater — laughing like crazy. One of the great things of those years too was that this “renaissance of Latin American cinema” that had started in the early/mid 90s was starting to come into its own and become more well known and popular abroad. Seeing such a new independent cinema gain popularity and fill the theaters — at least in NY, it definitely was not happening in Latin America, which made it even more exciting and special — was very gratifying. It felt like we were really a part of that big change that Latin America was experiencing cinematically.

Have you ever had trouble getting filmmakers to New York for their screenings?

In 2011, we opened the festival with Gustavo Taretto’s "Sidewalls" from Argentina. Taretto, who is of Italian descent and had a beard at the time, was coming for opening night and he almost didn’t make it because he was held up at the airport and being questioned. He claimed it was because of his “Middle Eastern” appearance. The irony is that Coca Cola was one of his clients; when the officers stopped him at the airport (because of his beard) and asked him his profession he made a joke about how he actually helped the American Empire — I’m paraphrasing — impose its products on the rest of the world.

Gustavo Taretto and Marcela Goglio

Something similar happened to another opening night guest, Roxana Blanco, coming to introduce the Uruguayan film "Kill Them All", a political thriller set in Uruguay. This time it was not because of her appearance, but because of the title of the film.

It also happened to the director and producer (Kenya Marquez and Karla Uribe) of Expiration Date, the opening night film in 2012. There was a storm so they were delayed arriving from the airport and couldn’t introduce the film. They finally showed up as the film was ending, direct from the airport and soaking wet, and practically changed in the lobby before marching into the theater to do the Q&A.

To Gustavo Taretto, it actually happened twice in that trip. After opening night (a Friday, I think) he had to travel to Mexico for a publicity gig. On his way back to New York, where he had to introduce his second screening, he was singled out in the immigration line (supposedly again because of his beard) and questioned right there.

Are there filmmakers who screened their first film at Latinbeat and are now big names? Do you feel like you took part in discovering them?

None of these are “big names” but are well known now in the Latin American film world, with a respected body of work; I feel like we took part in discovering many of them, but not all: Celina Murga, Argentina ("Ana y los otros," ‘04), Damian Szifron, Argentina ("En el fondo del mar," ‘03 ), Matias Bize, Chile ("Sabado" ‘04), Marite Ugas and Mariana Rondon from Venezuela ("A la medianoche y media," ‘01), Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll from Uruguay ("25 Watts," ‘01), Everardo Gonzalez, Mexico ("Cancion del pulque," ‘04), Nicolas Pereda, Mexico ( "Perpetuum Mobile"— his second feature film, ‘09), Matias Meyer, Mexico ("Wadley," ‘08 ), Martin Rejtman, Argentina ("Silvia Prieto" — his second film, ‘99), Mercedes Moncada, Mexico/Nicaragua ("La pasion de Maria Elena," ‘03), Pedro Gonzales Rubio and Carlos Armella, Mexico ( "Toro Negro," ‘05), and finally Juan Jose Campanella from Argentina, we showed his "El mismo amor, la misma lluvia" in 1999. He went on to win an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009 for "El secreto de sus ojos."

Matias Meyer, director of 'The Cramp' with Marcela Goglio

How does film production compare now to when Latinbeat started?

Numbers of films have increased twenty fold or more, in most countries — a lot. Mexico, Argentina and Brazil continue to produce the most but the main difference is that countries like Chile, Uruguay, Colombia and Venezuela — though Venezuela always had a high production — underwent their own explosion in the last years, as you might have heard. So, they are also important players. Another big difference is precisely the variety of themes, formal approaches and, storylines — political and personal, different genres — though the “independent”, low budget, formal exploration strain continues to be strong in all the countries, which is what is so fascinating. It’s as if the cinema in the region is constantly renewing itself. Also, the fact that there is this variety of genres, levels of production, styles — and the fact that there are some solid commercial films produced and consumed regularly in some of these countries — to me is an indication that there is an industry that’s getting strong. That is really great, even if we may not love everything that is being produced.

Have you ever considered including U.S. Latino films in Latinbeat?

We did include a few over the years — the Dominican-American "Red Passport" and the films of U.S.-based Puerto Rican director Mario Diaz. But, we focused on Latin America mostly and we understood that as separate from “Latino”. Also, the New York International Latino Film Festival seemed to have that area covered those years. [The Nyilff launched in 1999.] Now that that festival is gone [Nyilff], I would want to consider more Latino films. I also don’t see the “Latino” and “Latin American” as that separate anymore.

What is your favorite part of being a film programmer?

I love almost all aspects of it: watching the films (even when they’re not always great); choosing them and finding the best ways to make them work together; and finally, meeting the filmmakers and having conversations with them and the audience, onstage, brings everything full circle.

Pablo Cerda, director of 'P.E.' with Marcela Goglio

When you want to just sit on the couch and unwind what sort of films do you watch in your spare time?

I generally don’t watch films to unwind — I prefer to read. But these days I enjoy watching Argentine public television — many filmmakers are directing great series.

Did you ever want to be a filmmaker?

I did, a screenwriter. But wasn’t 100% sure. I went to film school briefly at the Universidad del Cine, in Buenos Aires, while I studied Journalism at Universidad de Buenos Aires.

This year, there are lots of films about young people, from "Somos Mari Pepa" (Mexico) to "Holiday" (Ecuador) and "Mateo" (Colombia). The opening night film "Casa Grande" also centers on a teenager but in Brazil. Was this on purpose? Is it a reflection of a larger trend in Latin American filmmaking?

"The Militant," "Root," "The Summer of Flying Fish" and "Natural Sciences" are also about young people and are a variation of “coming of age” stories. So it is definitely a recurring theme in the program. Yes, it’s on purpose. Most of our past editions have had many young first-time directors; it has been like this from the start. We look to reflect the region’s new trends with the program, to highlight emerging talents always, even if they might have imperfect films. And some of these titles mentioned are definitely by filmmakers to watch.

Latinbeat runs July 11 – 20 at The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater.

Above: Ernie Gehr's Auto-Collider Xv.

The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.

Galas

A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)

Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)

The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)

Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)

Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)

English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)

Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)

Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)

Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)

Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)

Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)

Looper (Rian Johnson,...

The 37th Toronto International Film Festival® will roll out the red carpet for hundreds of guests from the four corners of the globe in September. Filmmakers expected to present their world premieres in Toronto include: Rian Johnson, Noah Baumbach, Deepa Mehta, Derek Cianfrance, Sion Sono, Joss Whedon, Neil Jordan, Lu Chuan, Shola Lynch, Barry Levinson, Yvan Attal, Ben Affleck, Marina Zenovich, Costa-Gavras, Laurent Cantet, Sally Potter, Dustin Hoffman, Francois Ozon, David O. Russell, David Ayer, Pelin Esmer, Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Andrew Adamson, Michael McGowan, Bahman Ghobadi, Ziad Doueiri, Alex Gibney, Stephen Chbosky, Eran Riklis, Edward Burns, Bernard Émond, Zhang Yuan, Michael Winterbottom, Mike Newell, Miwa Nishikawa, Margarethe Von Trotta, David Siegel, Scott McGehee, Gauri Shinde, Goran Paskaljevic, Baltasar Kormákur, J.A. Bayona, Rob Zombie, Peaches and Paul Andrew Williams.

Actors expected to attend include: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jackie Chan, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Bill Murray, Robert Redford,...

The globe-trotting section of this year’s Contemporary World Cinema programme has your Sundance (in a pair of excellent titles in Ava DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere and James Ponsoldt’s Smashed) and has select items from several sections from this year’s Cannes ranging from Pablo Stoll Ward’s 3, Yousry Nasrallah’s After the Battle, Aida Begic’s Children of Sarajevo, Catherine Corsini’s Three Worlds, Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise: Love, and they must see In The Fog a masterwork from Sergei Loznitsa and will be padded by world premiere items such as Annemarie Jacir’s When I Saw You, Lenny Abrahamson’s What Richard Did and Sion Sono’s The Land of Hope (see pic above). Here’s the entire list of items that make up this year’s section:

3 Pablo Stoll Ward, Uruguay/Germany/Argentina North American Premiere For Rodolfo (Humberto de Vargas), life at home feels empty and cold,...

Harmony Korine's ode to spring break sluttiness, a new Kiyoshi Kurosawa project produced for Japanese television, the latest from Sion Sono and a slew of other notable titles from around the world are coming to Toronto as part of the Contemporary World Cinema program at Tiff. It's a big list, so strap yourself in: World Premieres From Sion Sono, Dror Sabo, Edward Burns, Annemarie Jacir, Pelin Esmer, Carlos Sorin, ZÉZÉ Gamboa And Luu Huynh Are Among 62 International Titles In Festival's Contemporary World Cinema Programme Scholars from University of Toronto's Munk School for Global Affairs to lead conversations about 5 Contemporary World Cinema films Toronto - The Contemporary World Cinema programme delivers cinematic gems from around the globe at this year's Toronto International Film...

The 16th International Film Festival of Kerala has announced the slate of films that will be screened at the festival from December 9-16, 2011.

National Award winner for Best Film and India’s entry for Oscars—Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu, Son of Adam) directed by Salim Ahamed will be presented in International Competition section at the festival.

Complete lineup:

International Competition

1. A Stone’s Throw Away/A Tiro de Piedra

Dir: Sebastian Hiriat/Mexico/118min/2010

2. Aadimadhyantham

Dir: Sherrey/Malayalam/104min/2011

3. Adaminte Makan Abu/Abu Son of Adam

Dir: Salim Ahmed/Malayalam/101min/2010

4. At the end of it all/Abosheshey

Dir: Aditi Roy/Bengali/118min/2011

5. Black Blood

Dir: Miaoyan Zhang/China|France/123min/2011

6. Body/Vucut (debut)

Dir: Mustafa Nuri/Turkey/104min/2011

7. Delhi in a Day

Dir: Prashanth Nair/Hindi|English/88min/2011

8. Flamingo No.13/Flamingo Shomareh 13

Dir: Hamid Ahmadi Tofighi/Iran/82min/2010

9. Ndoto za Elibidi

Dir: Kamau Wa Ndung’u|Nick...

There’s a new and not-necessarily awful sub-genre in thrillers these days, where the hose is stepped on for hours until the twist is unravelled and water comes a-flooding out. When it’s done right, we’ve been led down a narrow path, shadows and fog obscuring details that were right in front of us the whole time, entertained even while being distracted. When it’s done wrong, it’s your Uncle George trying aimlessly to get a joke out at the dinner table. The Cat Vanishes is a quirky Argentinean psychological thriller that asks the audience to question sanity as a whole, all the while unable to stop giggling about the card it has up its sleeve.

Luis (played by Luis Luque) is being released from psychiatric care, declared sane after an incident that left a colleague bruised and battered. His wife Beatriz (played by Beatriz Spelzini… wait a...

A psychotic break has fractured Luis (Luis Luque) and Beatriz’s (Beatriz Spelzini) marriage in El gato desaparece [The Cat Vanishes], playing at the Toronto International Film Festival. Proud parents of two, successful in life as a professor and translator respectively, and completely in love, they still prove ill equipped to handle mental instability. Brought on by the ceaseless toiling to validate his research and publish his magnum opus, paranoia sets in as ideas of sabotage begin to manifest. Accusations against his assistant at the university, Fourcade (Javier Niklison), are made while aggression takes hold. He beats his friend up in unjustified anger and then turns his violence onto Beatriz when the idea that she has been helping the traitor misguidedly appears logical. It is the sort of event that ruins lives, but Luis is lucky to find a second chance through psychiatric help, drugs, and compassion from those he wronged. The memory of unchecked and unprovoked chaos,...

By Sean O’Connell

Hollywoodnews.com: Brad Pitt, Keira Knightley, George Clooney, Carey Mulligan, Rachel Weisz, Gerard Butler and Ryan Gosling are heading to Toronto for the 36tht international film festival, which kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 8.

The fest today confirmed the hundreds of celebrities that will be attending the can’t-miss event, promoting films and making the rounds as the annual awards season starts to take shape.

Davis Guggenheim, Francis Ford Coppola, Alexander Payne, Luc Besson, Oren Moverman, Malgoska Szumowska, Bennett Miller, Sarah Polley, Jessica Yu, Michael Winterbottom and Werner Herzog are just a few of the filmmakers who have confirmed their attendance.

Celebrities making the trek include Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, Clive Owen, Jon Hamm, Shahid Kapoor, Michael Fassbender, Michelle Yeoh, Freida Pinto, Glenn Close, Matthew Goode, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Salma Hayek, Viggo Mortensen and Woody Harrelson. Musicians U2, Pearl Jam and Neil Young also are expected to...

Toronto - The 36th Toronto International Film Festival® welcomes hundreds of guests this year. Filmmakers expected to present their world premieres in Toronto include: Davis Guggenheim, Francis Ford Coppola, Alexander Payne, Agnieszka Holland, Guy Maddin, Luc Besson, Bill Duke, Oren Moverman, Malgoska Szumowska, Bennett Miller, Darrell Roodt, Sarah Polley, Jessica Yu, Michael Winterbottom and Werner Herzog.

Actors expected to attend include Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Clive Owen, Gerard Butler, Jeon Do-Yeon, Jon Hamm, Shahid Kapoor, Michael Fassbender, Michelle Yeoh, Freida Pinto, Glenn Close, Matthew Goode, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Ryan Gosling, Salma Hayek, Viggo Mortensen and Woody Harrelson. Musicians include: U2, Pearl Jam and Neil Young.

The Festival also welcomes thousands of producers and other industry professionals bringing films to us.

The following filmmakers are expected to attend the Toronto International Film Festival:

Adam Shaheen, Adam Wingard, Adolfo Borinaga Alix Jr., Agnieszka Holland, Akin Omotoso,...

News is rolling out of Toronto for this year's festival, with the Galas and the Special Presentations sections announced.  As always with Tiff, the sheer number of films can seem overwhelming, but with new films by David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method, pictured above), Terence Davies (!), Francis Ford Coppola, Wang Xiaoshuai, Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, and William Friedkin added to big names that premiered already this year (including Almodóvar, Von Trier, Nanni Moretti, and Nicolas Winding Refn) it looks like the 2011 iteration will be as packed with must-see cinema as ever before.  We'll be updating this listing as new lineups are announced.  See Tiff's official website for details.

Galas

Albert Nobbs (Rodrigo Garcia, Ireland) Butter (Jim Field Smith, USA) A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, France/Ireland/UK/Germany/Canada) From the Sky Down (Davis Guggenheim, USA) A Happy Event (Rémi Bezançon, France) The Ides of March (George Clooney, USA) The Lady (Luc Besson,...

Buckle up, kids. You're gonna be here for a while. The entire list of genre films playing at the 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival, running September 8th-18th, has been unveiled, and we have the skinny to supplement what we've already posted along with a boatload of never before seen imagery and a few new trailers!

For the full lineup and more details, visit the official Toronto International Film Festival website.

You're Next

Director: Adam Wingard

Starring: Nick Tucci, Wendy Glenn, Aj Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Margaret Laney, Amy Seimetz, Ti West, Calvin Reeder, Larry Fessenden, Kate Lyn Sheil, Barbara Crampton, Rob Moran, Sharni Vinson

In 'You're Next' the Davison family comes under attack from a terrifying group of sadistic murderers during a family reunion getaway. Barricaded in their secluded vacation home, they fight off a barrage of axes, crossbows and machetes from both inside and outside the house.

Shawn Ashmore, Ashley Bell, Shannyn Sossamon, Dominic Monaghan and Cory Hardrict in The Day

Photo: Content Media The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival announced 56 more movies added to its festival line-up this year with selections in the Vanguard, Midnight Madness, Documentaries, City to City and Tiff Kids programs. And to be honest, the line-up is filled with titles, most of which are absolutely new to me.

I have seen one of the films under the Vanguard banner, a selection of young and cutting edge features and I've heard of Joachim Trier's Oslo, August 31, Ben Wheatley's Kill List (watch the trailer to the right) was a hit at South by Southwest earlier this year and the documentary selections include familiar names such as Werner Herzog, Morgan Spurlock, Jonathan Demme, Alex Gibney and Wim Wenders, the latter of which is delivering a 3D documentary centered on the dance world of Pina Bausch and her company.

We're all for getting out in the summertime, but there might not be anything more refreshing than cooling off in a movie theater... or seeing a movie in the comfort of your air-conditioned home on demand, on DVD, or online... or better yet catching a classic on the big screen at a nearby repertory theater. With literally hundreds of films to choose from this summer, we humbly present this guide to the season's most exciting offerings.

May 1

"Eldorado"

The Cast: Bouli Lanners, Fabrice Adde, Philippe Nahon, Didier Toupy, Franise Chichy

Director: Bouli Lanners

Fest Cred: Cannes, Warsaw, Glasgow, Palm Springs,

The Gist: When Elie (Adde), a hapless young thief attempts to rob Yvan (Lanners), a 40-year-old car dealer, the two form a unlikely friendship that leads to a road trip across Belgium in this slight comedy that won the Best European Film at the Director's Fortnight at Cannes last year.

At a festival in Spain nearly 20 years ago, I saw a won derful comedy called "Ever smile, New Jersey," starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a traveling dentist in Argentina and directed by Carlos Sorin.

To the best of my knowledge, the film never received a release here.

The same can't be said for Sorin's tender gem "The Window," which today begins a two-week run at Film Forum.

Inspired by Bergman's 1957 "Wild Strawberries" -- which also inspired Woody Allen's 1997 "Deconstructing Harry" -- "The Window" is set in a...

Sundance focused attention almost exclusively on new American independent features and documentaries, but what about the rest of the world? Film Movement is doing their part, acquiring Us rights to Carlos Sorin's Argentine drama The Window and planning a May 2009 theatrical release, according to indieWIRE.

That sounds like a good counter-programming move. Film Movement is a small distributor of independent and foreign films and knows how to nurture their acquisitions. And even if The Window doesn't play theatrically beyond a few big cities, this deal will assure that it will be available on DVD this year, which is good news for fans of director Sorin. He previously made dramas such as Historias Minimas ("absorbing, undemanding," per Jeffrey M. Anderson) and Bombón: El Perro ("an unashamed crowdpleaser," per Neil Young), and The Window sounds like it's in a similar vein. Take a look at the trailer, embedded above, which reveals...

• I've only recently discovered Argentinean director Carlos Sorín via El Perro –- his road movie/tale of a pooch who didn't listen to his master (sounds like a Hollywood holiday movie for some reason) made the film festival circuit rounds. I'm sure the folks at Film Movement thought highly of that picture, but today's pick-up means they think highly of the filmmaker. Today, the NY-based indie distributor picked up the North American film rights to the The Window – with plans to open the picture in May. It is a significant day for 80 year old Antonio. After an absence of many years, his estranged son is coming to visit. All must be perfect. There will be a toast with very special champagne; an embrace; warm words that will maybe finally bridge the gap between them… But before, Antonio must wait. Bedridden, he looks out his window overlooking thee endless Patagonian

...

With the full line-up for the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival officially announced, I can finally begin to effectively obsess. And with 312 films from 64 countries screening at TIFF08, including 249 feature-length films, 76 per cent of which are world, international or North American premieres, and 61 of which are feature directorial debuts … well, needless to say, there’s a lot to obsess about.

Never let it be said, however, that I am not methodical in my obsessions. I begin with a preliminary review of the Contemporary World Cinema sidebar, with special thanks to Bay Area filmbud Carole Rutherford whose raids on IMdb and Wikipedia got me motivated. I also shout out to my Evening Class cohort Michael Hawley, the Twitch and Row Three teams, Dave Hudson at The Greencine Daily, Darren Hughes at 1st Thursday, the crew around Girish Shambu’s water cooler, and Anthony Kaufman at indieWIRE for their welcome recommendations. This will...

A host of both Asian and Spanish-language films have been announced as part of the Toronto International Film Festival 08 lineup and they are scattered over all different parts of the program. Anime fans will be glad to hear Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers will be having it's North American premier in the Visions section. Plastic City, the joint Brazilian/China effort about the mafia and salvation will also be getting it's North American prem. One of the most interesting sounding film's on the list is Albert Serra's Birdsong (El Cant dels ocells) which is a reinterpretation of the biblical journey of the three wisemen and their search for the Messiah. It's shot with only natural lighting. Check out the whole list following!ww

Asian lineup

Kanchivaram Priyadarshan, India

World Premiere

Vengadam is a born optimist and weaver of saris, but his lowly status means he can never afford the fashions he creates.

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain -- Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon and Martial Fougeron's My Son shared top honors at the 54th San Sebastian International Film Festival, finishing in an unusual tie Saturday for the noncash Golden Shell award. Ghobadi, who won the Golden Shell in 2004 with Turtles Can Fly, dedicated his Iranian-Iraqi-Austrian-French co-production to the Kurdish people. Tom DiCillo picked up best director and screenplay prizes for Delirious, starring Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt, while Argentine director Carlos Sorin walked away with the Special Jury Prize for his pilgrimage story El Camino de San Diego.

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain -- Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon and Martial Fougeron's My Son shared top honors at the 54th San Sebastian International Film Festival, finishing in an unusual tie Saturday for the noncash Golden Shell award. Ghobadi, who won the Golden Shell in 2004 with Turtles Can Fly, dedicated his Iranian-Iraqi-Austrian-French co-production to the Kurdish people. Tom DiCillo picked up best director and screenplay prizes for Delirious, starring Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt, while Argentine director Carlos Sorin walked away with the Special Jury Prize for his pilgrimage story El Camino de San Diego.

CANNES -- German sales giant Bavaria Film International said Monday it has inked a slate of U.S. deals ahead of this year's Festival de Cannes. The company has signed agreements for Oskar Roehler's Venice Film Festival entry Agnes and His Brothers, Ning Hao's Berlin festival audience favorite Mongolian Ping Pong, Anahi Berneri's S&M drama A Year Without Love, and Carlos Sorin's El Perro. New York boutique distributor First Run Features picked up U.S. and English-Canadian rights to Mongolian Ping Pong and Agnes and His Brothers.

COLOGNE, Germany -- Bavaria Film International has reported sweet sales for Bombon -- El Perro, from Argentine director Carlos Sorin, and German sci-fi comedy (T)Raumschiff Surprise -- Periode 1 at the Mifed film market in Milan, which wrapped Oct. 16. Bombon, the story of a mechanic in Patagonia who decides to change his life after his adopted mutt wins the local dog show, sold to several European territories, with Alamode Film taking the picture for Germany; Italian rights going to Mikado Film; and sales to Austria (Poly Film), Norway (Arthaus), Switzerland (Trigon Film), Turkey (Barbar) and the former Yugoslavia (Discovery). Best Hollywood picked up Bombon for distribution in Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

SYDNEY -- Continuing to build its reputation for acquiring quality art house product with crossover potential to a mainstream audience, Australian independent distributor Hopscotch has acquired four new films for release here: Kim Ki-duk's 3-IRON, Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall, Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin and Carlos Sorin's Bombon. Hopscotch launched some 18 months ago with titles including Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11.

SYDNEY -- Continuing to build its reputation for acquiring quality art house product with crossover potential to a mainstream audience, Australian independent distributor Hopscotch has acquired four new films for release here: Kim Ki-duk's "3-IRON", Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Downfall", Gregg Araki's "Mysterious Skin" and Carlos Sorin's "Bombon". A relatively new player, Hopscotch quickly established itself as a savvy operator after launching some 18 months ago with titles including "Bowling for Columbine", "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Touching the Void", "Spellbound", all of which were breakout hits here, as well as "Goodbye Lenin!" and local film "Somersault", which has garnered much critical praise to date.

MADRID -- Manolo Matji's Horas de Luz (Hours of Light) will compete in the 52nd San Sebastian International Film Festival's Official Section, organizers said Thursday. The love story that develops in the darkness of a prison is the only completely Spanish production in the festival's main competition. Two co-productions with Latin America -- Carlos Sorin's Bombon -- El Perro (Argentina-Spain) and Adolfo Aristarain's Roma (Argentina-Spain) will also participate in the festival's main competition.

COLOGNE, Germany -- German sales group Bavaria Film International said Wednesday that it has picked up worldwide sales rights for Bombon -- El Perro, a dog-show drama from Argentine director Carlos Sorin (Minimal Stories). Bombon tells the story of a mechanic in Patagonia whose life changes for the better when he adopts a dog that goes on to win first prize at a local dog show. Produced by Argentina's Guacamole Films and OK! Films with Spain's Wanda Vision, Bombon is being released in Argentina by 20th Century Fox. Munich-based Bavaria Film has shown an appetite for South American cinema, most recently picking up Argentine Daniel Burman's Lost Embrace, which won two Silver Bears at the Berlin International Film Festival. It also has picked up the Uruguayan feature Whisky, from Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll.

MADRID -- The first batch of acquisitions to be announced following the San Sebastian International Film Festival, was released by the sales office Monday. Spanish distributor Golem picked up Spanish rights to Susanne Bier's Open Hearts, a dramatic love story screened in competition at San Sebastian. Spanish distributor-producer Wanda Vision, which early in the festival sold worldwide rights outside the United States to Columbia TriStar for its controversial El Crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro), also sold French rights to Carlos Sorin's Historias Minimas. Wanda is close to signing deals for Italy, Germany and the United States, according to Wanda's Jose Maria Morales.